The title borrows from a lyric in one of the late Christopher Wallace’s songs. I suspect, he too borrowed it, but that doesn’t matter…didn’t, he was NOTORIOUS and could get away with whatever…till the end. That caught up with him. I mention the Biggie lyric not so much because I was a fan (seriously though, I preferred him over ‘pac), but because, it sorta feels like that’s what we were caught up in; a dream…or a fad. I had a chat with someone (name withheld) who felt that blogging had gotten too mainstream, and as such he opted out. Well as out as he could, the thing is, if you like to write, or have an opinion to share, you will find yourself drawn back to your blog, twitter or facebook account. It’s like a dance with a cruel partner that continually taunts you, “you’ll be back”.
Lately though, I found myself wondering whether he may have been on to something. Mayhaps he saw something I didn’t…something I didn’t want to see. After all, ‘twas he that noticed that there was a new generation of bloggers, flourishing as the old timers took a bow, sat in the sidelines and pitched in with a morsel when the opportunity afforded, a gem when inspiration hit.
I kept wallowing in the marsh of denial, assuming that I was overthinking things.
Then the blogsphere expanded. We had a new blog spring forth every so often. In a frequency that managed to hide the fact that some of the other blogs were slowly fading into obscurity, with the bloggers putting their keyboards down for whatever reason. However, the newbies kept coming, and we, would keep on announcing the discovery of each, promoting several along the way.
Then came blogspirit. A brilliant move from the node six crew. With it, we could keep up with our favourite writers, we could see what was going on in our “friends’” lives. It was all good. Let’s not go into the issues of navigation that some may have had, it kept on evolving and with each phase in the evolutionary cycle came improvement.
One thing though, that also came with blogspirit was clarity. Clicking on a blogger’s link would show you when last he or she posted, and you’d notice the diminishing frequency of posts (DFoP).
Out of..guilt, boredom, inspiration, we’d have random posts that served as a reminder that, yes, the blogger still existed. still held his or her readers with some regard, but just wasn’t up to writing…not yet.
Is it possible that, as blogs got more and more exposure, the pressure was pumped and bloggers felt that they had to live up to readers’ expectations, failing that, there was no point in writing?
Did bloggers feel that the privacy they once enjoyed, jotting down their thoughts on the internet, had vanished and as such retreated into the shadows?
Was it all a phase? A fad that ran its course and now we have facebook, twitter and cheap sms to turn to?
Is this all just part of evolution and only the strongest survive?
Or maybe we got too busy. We got jobs and they pulled us away, sucked us into the corporate structure that had us so burnt out we could not put our thoughts online.
To those that fell along the way… just a few more steps, to those that are still in the game, the struggle continues (or contunes, if you will)
I once wrote, “we do the write thing”… I’m not sure anymore. The flames that once burnt deep and strong seem to need some fanning, some petroleum, a rebirth maybe, but one thing’s for sure, certain sections of the blogsphere (in my opinion anyway) could do with some Ignition…
inspired in part by this post
It wasn’t a phase. We still do the write thing. The struggle contunes.
But, for my part, I’ll confess it is work. When stuff like elections happens[1], we’ll be forced by all sorts of passions to come back and blog.
You never stop being a blogger, if you’ve at some point really become one.
[1] That’s the correct grammar, you people. Okay?
thanks for the lesson in grammar, 27th…
it doesn’t feel right, that you who drew more and more people into this blogging thing are now, you know, not doing it anymore…the list is endless. Must be twitter, and jobs, and no lure…
Here, take some of my Ignition.
Blogging = journaling = writing. It should not be constrained by time or Other People’s Perceptions (OPP).
My philosophy is: Do You whenever and however you like it.
While we are quoting rappers, “I started this gangsta shit, and this the muthafuckin thanks I get?”
No, i haven’t got anything constructive to add.
Okay, as someone who has been clogging since 2005 and averages three posts a week, let me say, Ivan, you have some nerve. You go for a full month sometimes. Nerve!
Baz: that’s the thing, back then i’d feel guilty about claiming to be a blogger and write a post, sometimes two after a stretch. Now, not so much. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t post with the frequency of the used to be regulars from way back when, my admission won’t do much to explain the draw-back we have witnessed over time.
Nice post Ai..
i must co-sign with P’momz….
I’ma DO ME when i get the time..
As per now, i set them up for auto-post..
and then this makes it easier to have a line of posts waiting in the wings as opposed to dropping one every week or so like Baz…
co-signing Baz…i think it can be done, with a little effort..but it all comes down to why u started blogging in the first place.
baz, petesmama…ahem, listen to them ivan